Vehicle pursued by ICE agents crashes in St. Paul, large crowd gathers after 1 hurt

Vehicle pursued by ICE agents crashes in St. Paul, large crowd gathers

Authorities say a vehicle believed to be pursued by federal agents crashed in St. Paul on Wednesday, leading to a large crowd gathering in the aftermath. St. Paul police say one person in the car being pursued suffered non-life threatening injuries.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Authorities say a vehicle believed to be pursued by federal agents crashed in St. Paul on Wednesday, leading to a large crowd gathering in the aftermath.

St. Paul crash involving federal agents

The backstory:

St. Paul police say they were called at about 9:39 a.m. Wednesday to the intersection of Western and Selby Avenues for a vehicle crash. Authorities say it was reported that a large crowd had formed in the area.

Police say preliminary information they received was that federal agents were pursuing a person in a vehicle when that vehicle crashed. Officers assisted at the scene of the crash, and are writing a crash report in its aftermath, police have said.

The person that was being pursued sustained non-life threatening injuries, and was taken to a local hospital.

Crowd forms near crash scene

What we know:

As has been the normal during Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, a crowd gathered near the incident with several onlookers blowing whistles and recording the events on their phones.

FOX 9 was at the scene as people exercised their First Amendment rights. The situation did not escalate as first responders arrived to take the person away in an ambulance.

Video taken at the scene shows a red sedan with heavy damage to the passenger side being placed onto a tow truck before it’s hauled away.

St. Paul Mayor reacts

What they're saying:

Newly-elected St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her released the following statement after the incident.

"The incident today at Selby and Western underscores the fact that ICE is still present, causing chaos, and putting residents at risk in Saint Paul. I want to thank those who continue to show up and keep watch over their neighbors. I also want to thank the Saint Paul Police for staying on the scene to clean up and ensure those impacted received assistance. 

 "Because of the reckless way that ICE is running their operation, one person ended up in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and several bystanders had their cars damaged. This is just another incident that tells us loud and clear: Operation Metro Surge needs to end immediately."

What we don't know:

FOX 9 has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for more information on the incident, and they have not yet responded.